Russian Grand Prix 2015: 'I never envisaged we would win back-to-back titles,' says Lewis Hamilton

The Briton is just two points away from winning the championship for second successive year

Lewis Hamilton celebrates his win in Sochi (Getty Images)

An off-stage whoop of pure glee presaged Lewis Hamilton’s arrival from the upstairs office in Mercedes’ Sochi hospitality unit on Sunday night. The world champion, a winner for a Vettel-matching 42nd time, stepped in with a beam that not even snagging his jacket on a door handle could erase as his entry was momentarily retarded. He had just learned that, at the 11th hour as Kimi Raikkonen had been dropped from fifth to eighth place by a time penalty imposed for his clumsy overtaking move which wiped out Valtteri Bottas’ Williams, Mercedes had, after all, clinched their second consecutive world championship for constructors. Thanks to Raikkonen’s gaffe they had outscored Ferrari by the three points they needed.

He spoke of feeling blessed by his runaway success, and as team-mate Nico Rosberg again ran into trouble that stymied his hopes after leading, it did indeed seem that the gods were with him this year just as they had seemed to have deserted him so often in his rollercoaster yet ultimately triumphant 2014 season. He bubbled at the thought of a 66-point lead over Vettel with four races to go.

“I’ve never ever had something like that,” he grinned, and then he paid tribute to former Mercedes boss Ross Brawn as he recalled how the architect of so much of Michael Schumacher’s success at Ferrari had lured him away from McLaren.

"When I spoke with Ross a few years ago I never envisaged we would win back-to-back titles. I remember sitting with Ross and I got such a good feeling when he told me the plans.

"I need to make sure I message him because while we are succeeding today, Ross is still a part of it. I really didn't know we'd be as dominant this year either as we were last year. I felt the guys would do a good job, I just didn't know it was going to be this good. They've done an even better job this year than they did last year, which is just - and I continue to say this - phenomenal."

He explained why, in parc ferme immediately after the race, he had spent moments kneeling by the side of his trusty steed. “Over the last few laps I had been rubbing the cockpit and saying, ‘Come on, we can do it, we’re nearly there,” he admitted. “When I stopped I wanted a few moments… Normally you rush out of the car, but I wanted to take a moment. I never want to forget for a second what I experienced just then. That bond with the car. One day I’ll be at home watching this on TV, and I’ll always be able to remember that.”

More than anything, though, he spoke of how proud he felt to be part of the machine that is the Mercedes team. Bosses Lauda and Toto Wolff had long had to depart for their flights back to join with the teams back at Brackley and Brixworth, and everyone was too busy striking camp to have the time to celebrate. The victory tee-shirts were nowhere in evidence, as if Mercedes had been caught on the hop just when they thought they would have to wait for the title in Texas in a fortnight. But Hamilton, and Rosberg, were due to join all of them when they visited the two factories yesterday, and then the partying would begin in earnest.

“I feel like I am a small chink in the chain that has achieved this, and it feels really special to be part of it,” Hamilton added. “To have contributed to it is a great feeling, and I feel proud.”